


New Smile

by Blooperbloop



Category: Kuroko no Basuke | Kuroko's Basketball
Genre: AU, Angst, Fluff, M/M, One Shot, Romance
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-08-25
Updated: 2019-11-06
Packaged: 2020-09-26 13:16:17
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 18,232
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/20390311
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Blooperbloop/pseuds/Blooperbloop
Summary: An assortment of Akafuri oneshots.





	1. Fresh start

“Um, thank you, f-for, you know, walking with me.” Furihata says to the space between them, words slightly muffled by the thick scarf wrapped around the lower half of his face. His gaze was trained on his feet, being extra cautious as not to misstep on the thin layer of frost on the footpath. With all the glass bottles and containers he’s carrying in his bag, it would be a very bad time to slip.

He already embarrassed himself in front of Akashi enough this evening, and if he mucks up one more time, well…America looks lovely this time of year, the pictures Kagami had shown him from his last trip all looked good. Might be a good opportunity to relocate.

“It's my pleasure.”

“...right.” Or maybe he should go sometime now? He'll go back to the party, quickly help Akashi unpack the extra food and drinks they're carrying, and then just sneak out back home...Kuroko wouldn't mind if he left without saying goodbye? _We'll see each other in class anyway, _he reasons.

The quiet returns, their steps noisy in comparison. As the two keep walking, Furihata's neck heats and he feels a blunt sadness inflate unpleasantly in his chest.

Kuroko's party was the opportunity he needed to introduce himself to Akashi in a better light. He braved himself up beforehand, rehearsed potential questions to keep things going, willed himself to not get intimidated or let any anxiousness prevent him from actually approaching Akashi this time, put on nicer clothes than usual for a bit of confidence, gave himself so many pep talks yet... his nerves won.

Again.

Furihata was (and definitely felt) awkward the whole night, missed so many openings where he could've said something to create conversation, felt so hyperaware in his skin that it made him clumsy - constantly knocked things over, managed to spill his drink on his nice shirt, and the list really goes on.

Every single mishap made him more and more conscious of himself which in turn made him more and more uncomfortable. He's just so _disappointed_ in himself, once again reinforcing to Akashi the image that he's just a fumbling ditz.

Furihata frowns. Why did Akashi even sit next to him for so long? Why didn't he just leave after the third or fourth or fifth time Furihata managed to kill the conversation? He literally began telling Akashi about how he was saving up for a new steam train model before quickly shutting himself up._ Why did that topic even come into your mind, as if Akashi has any care for that, idiot_.

Why is it that Akashi, after all that awkwardness, offered to walk to the shop with Furihata? That was meant to be his out - Furihata wanted to give him the opportunity to slip off and find someone worthwhile to talk to while he himself went for the shop, didn't want his politeness or pity or whatever it was that kept Akashi from leaving Furihata's side.

His frown became more pronounced. Surely he could see Furihata was suffering from severe conversational constipation, even now, so why did he keep-

“You know, Kouki, I was quite surprised to see you at the celebration today.” Akashi looks at him, head lightly tilted in question. Furihata briefly returns his gaze but quickly looks back down, not trusting his feet to not slip without his supervision and also not trusting that he'll be able to keep calm with the eye contact.

“I, yeah,” Furihata's grip on the bags stiffens as he tenses, the crinkling of plastic loud at this time of night. “I haven't seen everyone in a long time - in a while, sorry, thought I should come by and, y’know, see how everyones been getting on...” he finishes quietly, burrowing his face deeper into his scarf. _See how everyones been getting on, nice save_ he mocks internally. In his head Furihata kicks himself _Now find a way to apologise for bringing with you the awkwardness of a thousand men and pray that Akashi will selectively forget this whole mess of a night._

“I haven't seen you in a long while either.” Akashi responds, still looking at Furihata. “I was happy when I saw you walking in behind Tetsuya. Personally, I was not planning on remaining too long into the night, but I'm glad I stayed long enough to see your arrival.”

Hang on, roll back “What- Why?” Furihata finally looked back at Akashi properly and tugged down his scarf so that it didn't cover his face. Akashi was smiling at him, and his confusion increased, now feeling a different type of embarrassment.

That sounded really mushy to his ears, why did Akashi phrase his words the way he does. “You really didn't have to stay, with m-me, throughout that, y’know I - “

“I wanted to. My apologies for monopolising your time, but I reasoned that the others see you much more frequently than I do,” Akashi’s pace had been slowly decreasing, until he finally comes to a slow stop, turning his whole body to face Furihata fully, then with a small, somewhat cheeky smile adds “if that is sufficient justification?”

“I- yeah, yeah.” Akashi observes how Furihata reddens more, now obvious that it’s not just down to the cool weather, and softens. He had been growing restless with wanting to see Furihata, a feeling that he was uneasy with and wanted to remedy.

Following the tournaments in first year, there have been a surprising lack of opportunities for them to bump into each other – Furihata didn’t come to the games where Seirin would play against Rakuzan, and Akashi never had any luck catching him whenever seeing Kuroko. Until tonight it seems.

“We really do not cross each other often, Kouki. You should visit Kyoto; I would be happy to be your guide. We can also have a look for that train model you mentioned – Kyoto has many speciality novelty shops, although I've never been on the lookout before. We can help each other.” Akashi continues back on the walk, both amused and satisfied by Furihata’s spluttering attempts at a reply behind him, already thinking of the most enticing places in Kyoto, ready to reel Furihata in.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I've been stuck on this pairing for waaayy too long so I thought 'hey, maybe it's time to make a contribution.'  
I hope you enjoyed this, and if not...I will find you and I will ki- and if not please drop some constructive criticism. I can take it, I promise.


	2. Too little Too much

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU, fluff, maybe very light emotional angst?, kissy kissy

Akashi sighed as Furihata softly kissed his neck, mouth slowly moving higher and higher until it reached the soft skin under his jaw, the action prompting Akashi to tilt his head back, neck hot with a dry sort of heat.

He felt hands smoothing over his chest, creasing his dress shirt and coming to rest on his shoulders. Furihata used this to steer them even closer to each other, placing a firmer kiss against his raised chin.

Every movement was slow, deliberate, giving Akashi time to react and intercept if he wanted to. And Akashi didn't want to, woozily ecstatic with the way Furihata was pacing everything.

He tentatively moved his arms to rest around Furihata's waist and secured them there, flushed still with their proximity and revelling in the light presses of soft lips to his skin.

In the haze of it all there was a tingling feeling of shame within him. A shame for wanting to be closer, for _allowing_ someone to get this close after keeping himself to a distance from everyone around him for so long.

He was glad at least one of them was brave enough to be more forward, more daring in this regard.

People can say what they want, but Furihata has a unique internal strength to him, doesn't cower where it matters. Akashi would never allow himself to make the first move, too afraid for even the smallest possibility of having to face an intimate type of rejection. Didn't want to shatter a good bond like he'd done with others in the past.

He doubts he could handle Furihata turning away from him after how extensively Akashi had gotten attached, and so leaves it all for Furihata to dictate. At least for now, while he's settling in with this new development. _Their_ new development. Doesn’t want there to be any mistakes on his, not this early on. There'll be an allowance for errors later. 

"Is this okay?" Furihata murmurs, face level with Akashi's and expression soft, their noses almost coming into contact.

"Yes."

There's a standstill of hesitation, both staring at each other until Akashi breaks his gaze to catch Furihata’s throat moving with a nervous swallow. His lips are slightly puffed, redder than they are naturally and Akashi unconsciously licks his own, ready, all earlier thoughts muted.

"Okay. That's uh- that's good." Furihata breathes, face drawing closer, angling his head so that their noses don't squish. If in the current moment he could, Akashi would chuckle at how careful Furihata is being with him, even at this stage. It was pleasant, having someone be cautious with him out of care and warmth rather than cold wariness.

Furihata gives a quick peck to his damp lips, gently follows it with another, and another, hugging Akashi tighter before landing more lingering closed-mouth kisses. Akashi doesn't move to initiate or progress anything but reciprocates to all of Furihata's ministrations. A pleasant sense of exhilaration runs through him, unfamiliar vulnerability and thudding excitement muddling together.

He sighs out again, this time with more force, assuming the release of breath would lighten the hot pressure he feels weighing his heart and constricting his chest, but to no luck.

Furihata doesn’t let him to dwell on any of this, his sporadic kisses continually distracting Akashi from sustaining any lengthy strings of thought. And maybe that’s what he has needed - heart full with emotion, but head empty for once. It’s comforting to know that he has got the capacity for something deeper, feels less alien to all the feelings he sees in others. He'd always assumed he wouldn't enjoy being so close to someone, but here and now with Furihata everything was perfect. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Oops


	3. Friends forever

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU - they're younger, fluff, games, friendship

“That is amazing. Does he enjoy it?”

“He claims that he prefers it over the piano, but maybe that’s because he started playing the violin recently, it’s newer. I’m sure he will encounter some difficulties.” Shiori smiles, the majority of it obscured by her mug but there was a clear warmth in her tone.

“My Kou struggles to hold his toothbrush and cutlery properly, let alone play with such a delicate instrument.”

“Does he have any desire to play an instrument? We'd be happy to-”

“Oh no, no it's alright, I really don’t think he does,” Furihata-san pours more tea for both of them, “He’s more outdoorsy, always gets dirty in the garden, picking out my flowers,” she chuckles, and then her smile drops. She leans forward to Shiori and quietly voices “The mud, grass, and blood stains on his trousers are ridiculous. I tell him every time to be careful or place down a plastic bag. Never happens. It’s always ‘sorry I forgot’. I say selective memory.”

Shiori chuckles into her tea, eyes bright at Furihata-san’s huff, and the women carry on into their conversation. The atmosphere in the room is relaxed, their chatter and warm hues of the sunset in the room adding a certain calm to the moment.

In Furihata Kouki’s room however the atmosphere was nowhere near as pleasant, but this goes beyond not having the oranges and reds and pinks of the sunset.

Furihata was sitting on his bed, knees tightly drawn together and arms stiff on the bedframe. There was a distinct ‘tick tock’ in the room, its echoes accentuating the silence. Furihata glances to the clock, then to the window, his gaze briefly landing on the guest sitting across from him on his chair before he looks back to the floor.

“You have quite a lot of comics.”

“Um, yeah”

“Father says that books with pictures are unnecessary if you can read properly. Your mind supplies the images for you.”

Furihata awkwardly shrugs his shoulders. He almost felt berated.

Initially, when his mother said that someone was coming around, Furihata got excited. He had cleared away the Lego construction he was playing with almost immediately and dashed upstairs to tidy his room, clearing the area so that there would be plenty of space for play.

Now, as he looks at the deconstructed Lego pieces sitting in a tin near his bed, regret hits him quite strongly. Maybe he shouldn’t have taken it apart…the boy across him did not seem all that keen. He didn’t really want to play with anything and when Furihata tried to talk all he got was clipped answers and choppy judgements.

“Can I look at one?”

“Huh?” Furihata looked up again, this time with less defeat in his eyes.

“A comic.”

“…Yeah.” Furihata got up from the bed and went to his bookshelf, posture withdrawn, maybe a little shy. “Um, I have manga, but I also have s-superhero ones…they’re from America…”

Akashi looked to Furihata, and then swivelled back towards the shelf on his chair, studying all the thin and bright spines of the comics. He slowly turned back. “What would you recommend?”

Furihata straightened up, appearing a little more lively. “I really like Spiderman!”, and he then proceeded to take out as many comics as he could, hoping to find one that Akashi would like.

_______

“But you played fine last time, didn’t you?”

Furihata sighed rather dramatically and returned eye contact with his mother in the front mirror. “He is difficult to talk to. And he didn’t really like Spiderman. He said only children read comics.” With a whine he added “And when I asked if he wanted to go out and play outside he said no.”

“Well, it’s okay to not like the same things. I think Akashi-kun prefers calmer activities. Maybe board games? You could ask him this time.”

Furihata looked away to the road ahead, a small pout pushing out on his bottom lip.

They had been invited to visit the Akashi residence, by Shiori, for tea. Furihata’s mother worked as Shiori’s tailor, and so they had a good relationship, saw each other often. Furihata wasn’t sure why she insisted on him coming, but she was stern with it.

Prior to them getting ready to leave Furihata was quite happily concentrated on trying to replicate the Lego figure he had made earlier in the week. In the middle of his task Furihata was called down from his room and told to get ready.

His mother fussed on what clothes to wear, telling him to brush his hair and made him thoroughly wash his hands, because ‘_You can’t go the Akashi’s with all that dirt under your nails!’._

Going by how their previous encounter went, Furihata was understandably unenthusiastic.

“You’ve brought your ball, haven’t you?”

“Yeah.”

“Ask him to play. I think he likes sports as well. I’m sure you’ll both enjoy it.”

“But m-“

“No buts,” she pauses, looking around the road before making a turn, which takes them into a secluded area. “Quit sulking. It’s nice to have a friend who has different interests. Akashi-kun is very sweet. He was just tired on that day because he had a recital before he came to us.”

Furihata looked out of the window, where in the distance a mansion was coming into view. He grumbled a small “Okay”, not at all convinced – to him Akashi was not sweet at all, just rude, but he remained quiet for the rest of the drive.

Once they arrived his mother quickly waved him off to go play with Akashi, ignoring Furihata’s pleading eyes and puffed cheeks, un-clinging him from her side. Furihata skulked off in the direction he’d been pointed towards, dragging his feet and clearly unhappy.

Furihata-san watched him go. She was privately hoping that the two would be able to get on – Akashi was a good, talented child and it would do Furihata good to be around someone of a different caliber to what they have back home.

Making friends didn’t seem to come easy to her son; it didn’t escape Furihata-san how Furihata wouldn’t join in the games the neighbourhood kids gathered to play, noticed how avoidant he was. She was sure Furihata just needed a little shove towards someone he will get along with. Shiori had confided in her, similarly worried about Akashi in regards to making friends, and they’d decided to make their meetings more frequent to aid their boys.

_______

“I would prefer to play basketball.”

“But…I can’t really play that.”

“You said you like sports, but you’re only really interested in football. You shouldn’t generalise like that.”

Furihata exhaled with helpless frustration, keeping it quiet out of politeness, and rubbed his eyes. Akashi was difficult to…do anything with and wouldn’t make compromises. He gave a mumbled counter, mood wearing away with Akashi’s behaviour. “But you only want to play basketball, so you’re the one…generlising.”

“It’s gener**a**lising. Football gets boring rather quickly.”

Furihata stays quiet and picks at the grass by his sides.

Akashi just looks at him fidgeting with the grass for a moment, seeing Furihata’s fingers get stained green. “How about we go inside and play chess?”

“Chess?”

_______

Akashi set the board up for them, simultaneously thinking strategies and trying to gauge how well Furihata could play.

His brain whirred with anticipation of their match, feeling more engaged and focused than he had in a while. He doesn’t have many opportunities to play with anyone other than himself, as his father is always occupied and mother isn’t well enough, so having an actual opponent brings some excitement.

They settle down in opposing armchairs, both looking comically small against their size. Furihata places the unused ball he’s been carrying around with him next to his armchair. He starts to bring his feet up to cross his legs, but notices the dirt on his trainers and drops them back down onto the marble flooring.

They both wait for the other to make the first move. Akashi assumes Furihata is just taking his time deciding how to start, but after a couple of minutes with no movement he looks up and finds Furihata looking at him expectantly.

“You need to start off the game. The player with the white pieces always starts first.”

“O-oh, sorry.” Furihata promptly looks down to the board, hands to himself and still not looking like he'll be making a move anytime soon. After another few minutes of staring around the board and all of its pieces, he finally hovers his hand over a pawn and hesitantly moves it forward diagonally.

Akashi is quick to comment. “You cannot move a pawn like that. And look, the chlorophyll from your fingers transferred onto it.”

Furihata reclines, chided, squeaks a small “I’m sorry!” and picks up the dirtied piece to clean it on his shirt. He places it down back to where it was at the start and wipes his fingers across his chest to fully get rid of the dye. Akashi cringes at this, a small twitch of the nose, and imagines the words he would receive had he dirtied his clothes like that. 

“The pawn can move forward two spaces as its first move, but following that they can only move forward by a square. They move diagonally only when they're taking another figure.”

“Ah, okay, t-thanks.”

The previously dirty pawn is once again moved forward, this time by two squares.

Akashi makes his move, and sees Furihata unsurely hovering over a knight, until he decides to forward the pawn he previously played. Furihata looks up at him with uncertainty, waiting to be corrected, and Akashi corrects.

“You _can_ move like that, however I can easily take it now,” Akashi demonstrates by pointing at his bishop with the white pawn in its diagonal path (although this doesn’t mean anything to Furihata). “It wasn’t the best move you could’ve done and doesn’t aid you in any way. Do you not know how to play?”

At Furihata’s embarrassed head shake Akashi moves his bishop to take the pawn, while explaining how the piece can move around the board. Furihata remains attentive and Akashi continues. He guides Furihata, showing all paths the pieces can take and narrates his own moves, light voice bouncing around the large room.

They finish with Akashi winning, but Furihata doesn’t look put off. In fact, he has a satisfied smile on his face, re-scanning the board with something adventurous in his eyes.

“Hey I think- I think understand it all now! Thanks for showing me. Can we…should we play again?”

Akashi nods his assent, moving to reset the board. This time round Furihata sets his pieces with confidence and waits for Akashi to move, as they’ve switched colours.

The game doesn’t last long, Akashi wins again, and Furihata requests another round.

“Hey why don’t we change it a bit?”

“Change what?” Akashi asks, resetting the pieces and again switching their colours. He won quickly as he was expecting he would from the beginning, but despite the easy wins he didn’t feel bored.

He was impressed with Furihata, who was gaining more and more fluency with the rules, taking less time to make better moves. It usually took a lot more to impress a child like Akashi, but presently he was feeling almost proud with their progression in the game.

“Like change the rules or what the counters can do.” Furihata looked at Akashi brightly, excited. “We can try a game without the troopers, just have the strong ones on the board, and then we can try-“

“The troopers?”

Furihata picks up a pawn “These ones.”

“That is called a pawn," he reminded, "And they’re not necessarily weak – you can finish very quickly if you utilise them properly, and-“

“Sorry, forgot. Okay, so we can play a game without them then we could do like one where these ones-“ he points to yet another piece.

“The rook.”

“Yeah, the rook, we decide at the beginning where we want to place them then they can’t move because they’re like a tower right? Then we could do one where I get a piece from your team and you get a piece from my team so that piece is like ‘the traitor’ and we can re-take our original one and-“ Furihata rushes out, trying to get out all the ideas appearing in his head, habitually anxious that he won’t be listened to otherwise.

“I understand. So we’re just modifying the basics.”

“Yeah! Modifying!”

Akashi sits up straighter, feeling more of a challenge with the new, unfamiliar rules and gracefully plucks all the pawns off the board, ready for their ‘trooper’-less game.

_______

“Kou honey, we’re going home now.”

Furihata and Akashi both look up from the chess board, Furihata giving her a puppy pout and angling his eyebrows. “Already?”

“It’s nearly seven. School tomorrow don’t forget. Good evening Akashi-kun.”

“Good evening.”

“Aw, we’re nearly finished! Can I finish this round? Please?”

Furihata’s mother looks at the two boys, her son sitting on the chair on his knees, hunching slightly over the board. Then at Akashi, sitting primly but also leaning forward, now both turned to her in hope she'll be lenient. “I guess it’ll be fine,” she smiles, happy that they were playing well. “Fifteen minutes - I’ll be at the door." She turns to leave but notices how Furihata is sitting. "Kou! Get your feet off the armchair!”

“Sorry!” He unfolds his legs from under his thighs and sits normally. “Thanks!” Furihata swings his eyes back to Akashi. “We’ll need to play quickly now, good game though! That was really clever with the knight… I think I already lost.” He says happily, to Akashi’s surprise.

A lot of the time other kids tell Akashi that he’s no fun to play with, quickly becoming bored once they realise they’re always playing a losing game, or tune out when the play becomes complex.

The adults laugh and brush their losses off, telling themselves that they’re losing because they don’t want to upset a child and not because Akashi was simply seven steps ahead.

Furihata on the other hand insisted on more rounds, changed things up so that ‘_You’ll be less likely to win if you aren’t used to the playing, I’m gonna get it this time for sure!’_.

Akashi didn’t want Furihata to leave, wanted to continue with their modified chess and wanted to see more of Furihata’s creative attempts to beat him. He hasn’t had anyone play with him for a while, and for this long too.

He positions a bishop against Furihata’s king, the surrounding pieces not giving the other any leeway and almost apologetically announces “Checkmate.”

“What? How? _Oh_. You’re really good.” Furihata pouts again, with less drama this time and leans even further forward with his hand out. “Good game, but next time I’ll think of something better.”

They shake their small hands and clear the board away together, after which Akashi leads Furihata to their front entrance.

On the way, Furihata speaks up with a short intake of air. “Sorry I was moody earlier, the chess was a good idea in the end and…and maybe next time I’ll try the basketball.” A couple of steps later, with less embarrassment and more vigour he continues. “You should ask your parents if you can visit us again, I’ll ask mum but she probably won’t mind, she thinks you’re really polite.” He smiles and softly giggles at Akashi, moving closer to playfully bump the other with his shoulder.

Akashi widens his eyes at the action, before shoving back lighter than Furihata had, slightly unsure of what else to do so settling for imitation. “I…was curt as well. We did play well.” he nods, feeling good from all of his wins - Furihata didn’t give him jealous huffs, handed out genuine praises instead.

Akashi isn’t expected to be anything but successful, so it does not garner any reaction unless he does otherwise. It was a nice change. “I will ask my mother, thank you for the invitation.”

“Nice! See you!” Furihata waves and jogs up to his mother, who has her car keys jingling in hand, saying her goodbyes to Shiori.

Akashi doesn’t reply, just watches as Furihata leaves, until the boy turns around to wave at him once more before getting into the car. Akashi shallowly bows just as the door shuts.

“Ah, I think Furihata-kun forgot to take his ball after doing his laces.” His mother exclaims, looking at the beaten-up, grass-stained ball left by the shoe compartment and hands it over to him, smoothing through his hair. “Keep it for when you seem him next, okay?”

Akashi carefully takes the ball and securely holds it, the tiniest of smiles showing on his lips. “I will.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Something a tad longer this time, hope it's enjoyable ^^


	4. With good intention

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> 3rd year, established relationship, basketball

Kuroko stood next to Furihata, waiting until the small gang of first years would finish their questions so he and Furihata could go buy lunch. They hadn’t acknowledged him, but this is a common occurrence and Kuroko doesn’t take any of it personally.

“Furihata-senpai, when will the first practice session be? Can we all come?”

“Yeah, of course. First one’s on Wednesday.” Furihata replies happily. Even now he got all gooey with people coming up to him. _It’s well_ _deserved_ Kuroko thinks, _but inconvenient._

During second year Furihata got quite popular among the under classmen, as those that joined the basketball club felt too intimidated by the regulars already in the team (Kagami especially tended to scare people off) and instead directed all worries and concerns to him.

This soon escalated into Furihata becoming the favourite to go to for practically anything. Want to practise passes? _Furihata-senpai_. Want someone to observe your form? _Furihata-senpai_. Want to discuss potential formations? _Furihata-senpai_. Want assurance that Kagami will not in fact cause intentional harm? _Furihata-senpai_. 

In third year where he was made Seirin’s captain the attention increased, and through friend recommendations ‘_Hey try out basketball, Furihata-senpai teaches really well!_’ more people signed up for Seirin’s basketball team than the previous year.

Furihata took all this humbly, and the continued attention improved his ability to control his nerves, which in turn made him _even more_ approachable.

“Although I will say,” Furihata tacks on, “Anyone can play, however to go to actual matches you’ll need make the official team. There’ll be try-outs next week.”

“Ah, that’s fine Furi-senpai. Will you be there?”

Kuroko decides that if they don’t leave for food now they won’t get it at all, and intercepts. “Yes, Furihata-kun will be there.” He takes in all the surprised expressions and flatly adds “He’s the captain. Furihata-kun, we should make our way over.”

The first years all startle, one getting out a shocked “Wha- Where did he come from?!”

Furihata smiles apologetically and rubs the back of his head “Sorry, we’ll have to make our exit. Hopefully I’ll see everyone at our first practice!”

“No problem Furi-senpai!”

\-------

“Ay Furi, how’ve you already arranged a practice match against Rakuzan?”

“We discussed it with Akashi and organised it just before the start.” Furihata helps Kagami pick up all the balls left over after their shooting drills. There’s still chatter echoing around the sports hall, members packing up and getting ready to leave for the day.

Furihata picks up each basketball strewn around individually and puts them directly into the container, while Kagami steps back whenever he picks one up and shoots it in instead. He baskets one in with so much power that it forces the other balls back out of the container. Furihata gives him a look.

"Kagami."

“My bad my bad. So that mean you’re voluntarily speaking to him? It’s weird how you captains all have a network thing going on.”

“Akashi-kun doesn’t speak to anyone else.”

Kagami drops a ball he had picked up “Holy shi- will you stop-“

Kuroko completely ignores this, joining to gather all the basketballs. “It’s quite lucky that we can get these practices in. Good job Furihata-kun, Akashi-kun isn’t the easiest to communicate with.”

Furihata pinkens, looking away from Kuroko and Kagami “Ah no, h-he’s nice.”

“Forget Akashi, I’m surprised snotty Rakuzan kids agreed to play with us-“

“Kagami.” Furihata turns back again.

“It’s true though.”

“Kagami-kun should be a bit more grateful.” Kuroko says, a neutral edge in his voice.

“Oi, how about you be on my side for once!”

“Your side never wins Kagami-kun, I don't want to be associated with that.” He blinks “No offense.”

“You!-“

“Guys!” Furihata puts his arms in the air between them, quelling their ‘match’ before Kagami gets passionate about it. He looks at their eyes one at a time. “Let’s just clean up yeah? Everyone’s looking...”

They clean up and clear out of the sports hall before closing, Furihata texting someone about the day on his way back home.

\-------

On the day of their combined practice, Seirin and Rakuzan team members don’t really mingle. There's a hostile tension between them; Rakuzan had won in the second year, reclaiming their previous position, and their arrogance against Seirin’s competitive stubbornness clashed rather harshly.

In the few matches they’d played so far the teams were aggressive to each other in a way that wasn’t part of their usual style. Kagami wasn’t holding back in the slightest, despite Furihata’s many pleads to cooperate and ‘_play nice, please_’. A couple of Rakuzan first years had already sustained nosebleeds via Kagami-directed basketballs straight to the face. _‘Just a slip of the hand, my bad_.’

The only people this atmosphere didn’t seem to affect were Furihata and Akashi. It was odd seeing the two captains being so civil, friendly even, considering their past and Akashi’s…temperament. Together they got a few matches going, observing their teams playing on the benches by the side.

Except they weren’t really observing, just the occasional glance to check that all was in order before continuing to chat amongst themselves, oblivious to the friction between their teams.

Kuroko was particularly focused on the two, curious as to why Akashi was being so lenient with the practice. He’d assumed Akashi would take this as an opportunity to size up Seirin’s new line-up following the previous third years’ departure; was expecting hyper analysis after hyper analysis, but the other was instead fully absorbed in whatever Furihata was rambling to him.

He looked at how close they were sitting, not necessarily close enough to be considered weird but close enough to earn a double take. Akashi generally avoided being in close proximity to others and Furihata tended to get shy, so what they were doing sitting like that Kuroko had no idea. He decided to approach them.

“Akashi-kun, Furihata-kun, are you planning to join? It would be good to have the captains participating, lift the morale a bit.” And morale was definitely needed based on how wary the teams were of each other. Like particles of oil and water needing emulsifier – in this case Akashi and Furihata – to mix.

Akashi didn’t look majorly happy with this but Furihata spoke up for both of them, already rising to his feet “Sure! Let’s have a few rounds.” Kagami perked up and made a stand to join, but Furihata was quick to shut him down. “Except you. You’re out until the end.”

“Furi they’ve been to the nurse’s office and they’re fine now!”

Furihata looked at Kagami with raised eyebrows. “They literally have the basketball’s texture and brand name imprinted into their faces. Think what’s gonna spread around about our team now!”

“I told you, it was a slip of the-“

Uninvested in the current dialogue Akashi interrupts with a hard look at Kagami and tugs Furihata by the bottom of his shirt. “You should listen to your captain, Taiga, without the theatrics. Out means out. Let’s go Kouki.”

\-------

As they played against each other, Kuroko quickly developed second thoughts about getting Akashi and Furihata to join. The weird atmosphere followed them onto the court and felt even more off than it did when they were just talking.

Furihata had volunteered to mark Akashi, ‘_for old time’s sake_’ he joked, and neither of them left each other to mark someone else. Akashi hovered around Furihata throughout the match despite having many openings to break free. Neither of them played seriously, undeniably not to the extent Kuroko knew they were capable of playing.

Seirin had current possession of the ball, a second year called Sato dribbling it towards their basket. Seeing the cluster of Rakuzan players in his way Sato passed the ball to Kuroko, who bent its direction towards Furihata. Akashi intercepted the pass just millimetres away from Furihata’s reaching hands and cockily bounced it by his side, expression smug.

The two then started a one-on-one, Furihata trying to steal the ball and Akashi almost effortlessly keeping it in his possession. Akashi and Furihata were clearly familiar with each other’s play, but more familiar than they could achieve through just versing each other in the occasional tournaments.

Furihata reacted and recovered suspiciously quick to Akashi’s tricks and Akashi wasn’t fazed by the new techniques Furihata had used on him. Techniques he hadn’t shown in any official matches and was still perfecting during practice. So how could Akashi be practically anticipating them? There was no hint of the emperor eye.

They concluded their match with twelve against thirteen in Rakuzan’s favour. Kuroko thinks this was down to Akashi guarding far too close to Furihata - it made Furihata flounder and lose his grip on the ball in the last few seconds, allowing Akashi to land a basket.

“Almost, Kouki.” He says, bringing his collar up to wipe the moisture on his face.

Furihata pouts. “That was mean.” He gently nudges Akashi in the shoulder and mumbles “Show off." as he passes.

Kuroko watches this with an expressionless look, mind clearly working on something.

\------- 

On the opposite side of the court a couple of boys were discussing the match, all huddled together while waiting for their own turns.

“Furi-senpai is so cool going against Akashi, he nearly had it as well…” A first year on the bench whispered to the others following the end of the game.

Someone replied, lowering their voice and bending closer “Yeah, shame there was that blunder at the end.”

“Akashi-san is scary, Furi-senpai definitely kept his cool. Plus he was totally cheating, you can’t be that clo-“

“Shh!” The first speaker rushed, pointedly tilting his head which all the boys follow to suddenly land on Akashi's dead on stare.

They all shiver and shrink into themselves, turning back in a snap.

“Do you…do you think he heard us?” One trembles out.

“N-no, he’s on the other side of the court, right?”

The first boy whisper shouts a nervous “Just shut it!” with an index finger at his mouth for emphasis. They sit in silence for a short while, recovering from the shock that is Akashi, until another voice speaks up, this time a first year from Rakuzan.

“Your captain was provocative as well. He didn’t have to box Akashi-san in like that at the beginning.”

All three of the Seirin boys involved gasp.

“Wha-Furihata-senpai is allowed!” “It’s still a valid move!” “He had to do _something_ to get past Akashi!” 

The Rakuzan boy crosses his arms to his chest, chin upturned. “It was rather undignified. Certainly explains why the whole team is so brutish.”

“You- Kagami?!”

A shadow befalls over they guy, Kagami eclipsing him. His towering height served well to up the intimidation factor.

“Got a problem with the captain, snotty twerp?”

\-------

After all the tension had been resolved (Furihata's disappointedly stern look at his team quelled them down quickly) Furihata and Akashi left together, Akashi offering to take the other home before leaving for Kyoto. He had talked their manager into allowing him to forego the coach that took the other Rakuzan players back and would instead travel home independently.

“So, today didn’t turn out as expected huh.”

“Don’t worry about it Kouki. I’ll speak to my team, some guidelines evidently need to be reinforced.”

“No no, there’s no need. Mine are to blame too. Kagami especially.” Furihata immediately puffs up a little, cross with how Kagami had handled things. “He’s in third year, kept picking fights with the little ones! It’s like he was intentionally looking for an outlet! And Kuroko wasn’t helping! Usually he’d keep track of him-”

“I think Tetsuya was too focused on us. I could tell he was trying to figure something out. And as for Taiga, I’m at fault - my presence simmered him up." 

“That’s no excuse.” He grumbles. “Trying to figure something out?” Furihata quickly spins his head to Akashi with a bit of alarm “Do you think he figured _us_ out?”

“No. He would make it clear if he had.” Akashi took Furihata’s hand in his as they approached a busier street. A bakery sign came into view and he decided to steer them there.

Furihata appeared to have calmed down, still processing through the events of the day but then tensed again as another incident flashed up in his head, gripping Akashi’s hand tighter.

“And the nosebleeds! Imagine if we’d have to cover any medical costs! It’d come straight out of the team's budget!”

Akashi chuckles, amused at Furihata’s indignance, rubbing circles onto the back of Furihata’s hand to soothe him “Is that the priority? Admittedly I don’t have much concern for Taiga, but if he causes you unnecessary stress do inform me.”

Furihata brushed this off, shaking his head at the suggestion.

Kagami did at times make him reach his limit in the patience department, but they’re friends. Good friends. He knew Kagami wouldn’t ever truly go out with the intention to harm someone, knew that he was just being protective of his friends. Kagami valued his circle just as much as he did basketbball. Maybe it wasn’t the best way to show it, but it without question came from a good place.

He continues with the other topic, anger at Kagami already dissipating. “I mean of course I hope their bruising goes down quickly and all, but…it would be pricey, y’know?”

“No matter. Let’s go over there.” Akashi indicates to the bakery, now closer for them to view. “I’ll buy some for you to take back home.”

“I can pay for myself…Sei, you don’t need to keep getting stuff for my family, they like you plenty. And they’ve only seen you once.”

“Hm, as you say. Does your mother prefer Danish pastries or cake?”

“…Cake, I guess.”

\-------

The next morning Furihata felt refreshed, the failure of their combined practice willing him to try and organise things better for next time, review what worked and what didn’t. He went to his seat, arriving earlier than he would usually so registration hadn’t yet started. Kagami was already sitting in his seat in front of him, eating bread and scrolling. He nods to Furihata in greeting and goes back to his phone.

Furihata plans to talk to him later, clear the air between them just in case he did upset Kagami with all the scolding and benching.

As Furihata settles at his desk Kuroko approaches him, making his steps louder than his normal so that Furihata wouldn’t get startled.

“Oh, good morning Kuroko.”

“Good morning. Did you have a good night? Yesterday was quite full on.”

“Yeah, I did thanks.” After he and Akashi had walked into the bakery and noticed they were also selling drinks and Akashi had invited him to stay for a bit. They’d talked, discussed the stuff they observed from practice (they did catch some things, were paying attention more than they appeared to).

Akashi ended up paying for everything and on top of that sent Furihata back with a whole bag’s worth of desserts. Furihata’s mother had gushed over it, promising to make something for Akashi in return next time he visits Tokyo.

“What about you?”

“I’m good as well. I have a question though, didn’t get to catch you after practice yesterday.” Kuroko looks intently at Furihata, in that neutral yet still expressive way of his.

“Sure!”

“Are you and Akashi-kun dating?”

Kagami, after tapping his phone screen a tad too hard, hard enough to produce an audible crack, chokes.

\------- 

Throughout the year Furihata and Akashi arrange a number of practices for their schools. Their respective teams are not too happy with these events, but learn to be minimally courteous for the sake of their captains. Even Kagami.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> 3rd year Furihata is something I think about a lot. Hope you liked :)


	5. Calico

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Hair dyeing, just small life bit, idk

Akashi was standing at Seirin’s gates, waiting to spot Furihata so they could walk back together – he had missed school for a business meeting here in Tokyo, and took the opportunity to prolong his stay.

After most of the crowd had diffused out of the bustling school grounds to the less busy roads beyond, Akashi still hadn’t caught sight of Furihata, and went inside to scout for him there.

He was at the gates early, before the bell went, so there was no way he would’ve missed him.

Once in Furihata’s classroom he was greeted by Kuroko, who was on cleaning duty with another classmate. Akashi didn’t waste any time, and after returning a short reply he stated his purpose. “Where is Kouki? Is he staying behind for anything?”

“Furihata-kun left as soon as the bell went. He said he texted you not to wait for him.”

“I didn’t bring my phone today. Thank you, I’ll go visit him.”

Before Akashi could make the full turn to walk away Kuroko called out his name to tack on something else. “Furihata-kun was a bit off today, and he was wearing a cap the whole time. Make sure he’s alright.”

“Of course.” Akashi’s thoughts immediately sprung to a passing phrase Furihata had told him, something about being 'adventurous'.

\-------

Akashi approached the house, already relaxing as he walked up to a familiar beige-brown front door. After a shrill bell sounded at the Furihata residence Akashi was invited in, door quickly swinging open.

“Akashi-kun! How are you today?” Furihata’s mother smiled at him, stepping away to allow him through. Akashi politely smiled back and entered, taking off his shoes and giving her the paper bag he was holding.

“I’m well, thank you. These are just a couple of confections from Kyoto,” he says as Furihata-san peers into the bag, “I believe you enjoyed them last time and they were displaying them again.”

“Ah you really shouldn’t have!”. She pats him on the shoulder and makes way to the living room. “Do you want anything to drink or eat? I bought ginseng tea yesterday from a new place, it’s quite nice. No? That’s fine. Kou is just upstairs, moping.” There wasn’t much worry in her tone, so Akashi assumed nothing too serious happened. “I’ll go put the sweets on the table, come down anytime.”

“Thank you.”

As Furihata-san retreated into the kitchen Akashi headed for the stairs, well acquainted with the house’s layout.

\------- 

A muffled “No.” sounded from beyond the door and Akashi rested his hand on the handle, beginning to put weight on it.

“It’s me.”

“What? Sei, I texted-“ The sentence became clearer as Akashi made his way into the room, closing it behind him and looking up to Furihata, a laptop resting on his lap.

They both looked at each other, Furihata a tad shocked as he wasn’t prepared for Akashi to actually walk in, and Akashi slightly taken at Furihata’s appearance.

His hair was a different colour, dark brown (mostly) replaced by multiple lighter shades. It was slightly disorientating, Furihata’s face no longer framed by dark colours, eyes sullenly peeking out from considerably lighter bangs.

Akashi spun the desk chair over close to the bed and sat curved forwards, studying the new contrast. "I didn’t bring my phone. It looks…unique. Definitely a change,” Akashi says, fixated on the brassy and lighter strands in Furihata’s hair, tone not giving away any of his surprise, “…as you had wanted?”. He remembered Furihata telling him he was _'approaching that rebellious stage I think, I wanna change something up’. _

It had been a solid couple of months ago but hadn’t left Akashi’s mind – once Furihata came to a decision it stuck quite firmly. He was aware of the intention but the timing was a surprise.

Furihata sighs with exaggerated despair, moving his laptop aside and scuttling forward to the edge to sit in front of Akashi. “Sei,” he calls, voice heavy on accepted defeat, “You really don’t have to be polite. Did you see this section?” Furihata brings a finger to the side of his head, from which he raises a section of hair, dry and frizzy. “It’s literally ginger!”

Akashi comes closer to take hold of the hair that Furihata had singled out, inspecting closer, separating the strands between his fingers.

Some were orange while others had reached a bright yellow colour, lightening to an off-white where it neared the roots. A lot of the ends were still closer to their original shade, the look altogether looking like a muted calico print.

Furihata puffs out his bottom lip and crosses his arms while Akashi goes through his hair, turning Furihata’s multicoloured head to different angles, gentle nudges here and there to see all the way round.

“It’s very varied. You left out a whole chunk in the back here.” A finger presses to the back of Furihata’s scalp, brushing through little knots. He studies the hair a touch longer, and then looks to Furihata. “When you said you were going to change something up this was not what I had in mind.”

“Now’s the time though, right? Before I have uni and a proper job and everything. I tried. I had the two mirrors and clips and all that.”

“Hm.”

“I don’t even know what to do. I can’t dye it ‘cause it will be all patchy and I don’t want to shave my head. And I can’t wear a cap all the time! It was so embarrassing today…”

Furihata slumped in a way that forced Akashi’s hands to slide down out of his hair to cup his cheeks instead.

“Don’t sulk, Kouki, it’s just hair.”

“I know.” Furihata grumbles. But Akashi could see he was disappointed that it turned out the way it did – all that excitement for trying something different was displaced by the regret of messing up something that was fine as it was.

“Why didn’t you go to a salon?”

“Wanted to do it at home. Hairdressers' too expensive-“

Akashi opened his mouth without managing to get his words out in time 

“-Don’t even offer! Plus don’t really trust them with my hair…I had a picture in my mind and this,” he indicates to his head, “Looks nothing like it.” Furihata huffs again, lifting his face out of Akashi’s hands to plop full body onto the bed, wanting to emphasise his misfortune.

“Do you have any bleach left?”

Furihata’s voice is muffled by the covers “Yeah I bought two packs, just in case. Guess I can return the other one now.”

“Do you want me to try?”

“Huh?"

“I think I can be trusted with your hair more than you can, as evidenced by- “

Furihata lifts onto his elbows to ensure that Akashi can see his displeased expression “Whoa okay, kick someone while they’re down- “

“Kouki.”

Furihata looks to Akashi, squinting his eyes in mock scepticism “If you mess up, I’ll be the one suffering. The one bearing the consequences. My hair could fall out you know, bleach is a serious thing. I will claim all the compensation- “

“You’re being unusually dramatic today.” Akashi got up and swivelled the chair he was on back towards the table, and with a hint of suggestion added “Compensation won’t be an issue.”

“W-Whatever! I’ve still got the stuff laid out in the bathroom…”

“Let’s start now, I have to be back in Kyoto by ten.”

Furihata gets up to gather everything they’ll need and together they migrate to the bathroom.

\------- 

Akashi brushed bleach onto Furihata’s hair, sectioning everything and giving more attention to areas that hadn’t lightened at all when Furihata had tried, generally doing things a lot more professionally than someone who’s never done hair before should have been able to do.

Furihata watched Akashi in the mirror, eyes showing small dejection, paying attention to how Akashi’s gloved hands were moving, how much more organised his approach was. “…This is already looking better. Thanks.”

“You don’t sound too happy. Humour aside, if this doesn’t turn out well it would be no issue to take you to a hairdresser,” he leans to hover over Furihata’s shoulder, looking at his profile. Softer, with a smile to lighten the mood he adds “So you can claim actual compensation.”

“No no, that’s not-” Furihata shakes his head and abruptly stops after realising this caused their cheeks to bump, sitting still again. “It’ll look good,” he nods his head to the mirror, where his hair has lost most of the patchiness and was becoming blonder. “I can already see.”

They stay like that for a couple of moments, Akashi still on Furihata’s shoulder and Furihata looking to the mirror. With the silence and Akashi’s attention on him, Furihata spills over.

“I-I’m just, y’know, I wanted to do this, and then I can’t do it, and it’s basically the same with everything I try. I wanted to pierce my nose- “

Akashi’s eyes widen at this declaration. “You wanted to pierce your nose?”

“-And chickened out, wanted to drive and failed the test, wanted to dye my hair, and messed it up too. Always the same thing.” This time Furihata employed a genuine pout, bottom lip lifting out of upset rather than annoyance.

“Kouki.” Akashi puts down the brush back into the rest of the bleach, and hugs Furihata over to him from behind, more with his forearms to avoid getting bleach on Furihata’s clothes. “Practically no one manages to do things exceptionally from the get-go.”

“But it seems to work out for everyone somehow, and _you_ get everything from the get-go.” Furihata says, not out of malice but still edgy, wanting to highlight his point. He doesn’t lean back into Akashi’s hug, and instead brings his knees up to the stool and squeezes them to himself.

“That’s because most don’t show the journey, so it may look good to the outsider, but we don’t see how much practice went into that from the individual.”

“Ah that’s…well when you put it like that…” Furihata abruptly jerks up to sit properly again “Sei! We need to put the rest on! It’s gonna get patchy again!”

“Oh. We’ll carry on then, sit a bit closer.”

\------- 

After the bleach had enough time to eat away at pigment, Akashi helped Furihata wash all of it out.

He could see Furihata’s improved mood, clearly happy with how the hair turned out; looking for his reflection in any surface that would show it, taking pictures, sending pictures, catching Akashi’s eye in hopes of more compliments which of course were immediately granted.

Furihata's mother came up to check on them, teasing Furihata about his earlier sulk and had given them some sort of balsam that reduced the frizziness.

Once the initial excitement had worn and he calmed down, Furihata enlightened Akashi about the existence of toner _(It’s colour wheel stuff Sei, trust me I’ve seen all the videos)_ and they added that too, turning the hair closer to platinum. They laid together, Furihata plugging in his laptop and browsing for something to watch while they waited for his hair to dry.

Nudging his shoulder to Akashi Furihata spoke up “Sorry for…for all of that earlier, I was just…emotional.” A heavy sigh sounds in the room. “This hair stuff is more struggle than it’s worth.”

“Well when you make these big changes with big risks- don’t look at me like that Kouki, it was a big thing-

“It’s just hair, like you said-

“Yes, but look how much of an impact it has.” Akashi reached over to brush through Furihata’s bangs, the strands smooth and light “You’re changing a big part of your appearance, it will have an effect, obviously physically, but emotionally as well.”

Furihata didn’t respond, but Akashi knew his words were accepted.

They decide on a film and Furihata turns off the lights, burrowing back into Akashi’s side but hesitating to press play.

“Thank you, y’know, for helping me. I know it’s not dry yet but I love it already…”

In all honesty Akashi didn’t know what to expect, didn’t know how it would turn out exactly when it dried, so used to seeing Furihata with brown hair that his mind struggled to display a blond Furihata.

Reality exceeded the blurry, half-there-half-not image his brain tried to generate. It looked cute, the lighter tones making Furihata look softer and brighter, more towards the angelic side than perhaps the rebellious look Furihata was aiming for, but Akashi wasn't going to tell him that.

Hands still in Furihata’s damp hair, Akashi leans in and whispers, slowly, making sure they’re eye to eye “I love it too. Looks very good.”

“G-good, good is good. L-Lets watch now.” Furihata wraps the cover tighter on his side of the cocoon. “Job well done.”

“Mhm.”

Furihata flushed, warm and close, the colour looking purple under the blue light coming from the laptop screen. With conscious, clumsy movements he positioned the laptop more centrally between them and hit play, eyes resolutely on the screen.

A few minutes into the film Akashi moved closer, heard as Furihata's breath hitched, almost anticipatory, moving closer still to press a gentle kiss to Furihata’s cheek, simultaneously grazing his fingers over the hairs at the back of his neck.

“Very good."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know next to nothing about bleach and bleaching hair pls don't sue.
> 
> Edit: So I read back over this chapter (I had checked through before posting but my brain evidently wasn’t on at the time) and cringed the whole way through, so there has been some pretty heavy editing. It’s still got the same gist/feel to it, but is longer by about 400 hundred words.  
Just if anyone goes back to it and remembers it differently it’s not because you had some falsely encoded memory or anything I just changed it :p  
I’m scared now to read back over the other chapters but I’ll be making changes to those where needed as well…  
Plus third year Furihata kind of made a comeback? That’s how I imagine it.  
Edit 2: So...I changed it again (slightly). This chapter is really bugging me, I don't know what's up ://


	6. Break and Drift

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst, separation, negative feelings, Furihata-centric, introspection

"Is that so?" Furihata says with full apathy, just a filler phrase with no true concern or disappointment that he is once again being brushed off. He's been like this more often than not, now numb to Akashi's constant 'come' then 'leave'.

Initially, Furihata was understanding towards Akashi's issues - understood that Akashi can't just be close and affectionate like other people are, can't fully relax and let himself go when they're together, can't give more time just for them, can't visit when Furihata is feeling down. Then his sympathy slowly meandered into a simmering frustration, the constant _can't can't can't_ becoming gratingly repetitive. 

Nearly five years of '_no worries, I understand, it's okay, we'll meet another time, yeah your fathers' annoying don't stress about it, you have people to impress I guess I get it, yeah it's fine'. _Has an effect on one’s patience levels.

And at the beginning it was genuinely 'fine' - Furihata had his own commitments and having periods where they wouldn't meet for months at a time was okay. He had places to see, new experiences to obtain and all the buzz that came with slowly acclimating into adult life to keep him distracted.

Now, there has been a constant ache for something more concrete - the occasional phone call isn't enough anymore, Akashi's reluctance isn't endearing anymore. Lately he doesn't find much of what Akashi does of emotional worth to him anymore, and it instead gets on his nerves, makes their already sparse meetings a chore.

And Furihata isn't supposed to be like this – apathetic, bitter, irritable, doubting, dismissive. That's never been part of him, and he likes to consider that it still isn't him - Furihata is only like this to one person after all.

"Yes, that is so," Akashi gives him an annoyed look, disliking Furihata's curt reply "I informed you before, I won't be able to just push back my meetings for this, you know I-"

"- have quotas to meet deadlines to beat, yeah, I do know, but I invited you before all those meetings were even scheduled, way before. In advance. Like you'd asked." Furihata states, and that's all it is - just a statement, no fight or complaint, no effort to convince Akashi otherwise. He picks up his stuff and unlocks his phone as he gears towards the door with a mild, somehow calm anger that shows familiarity with the situation, practically routine.

"Where are you going?"

"Back home," Furihata's eyes remain on his phone, already thinking how to rearrange his day now that he's not going to spend it with Akashi "It's fine, I'll get someone else to come, we'll do something some other time."

"There is still about an hour until my train, we could do something now. Stay."

"And do what ? I don't want to just sit here, and you won't go anywhere else with me. There's nothing-"

"-Put the phone away. Let's go out for lunch."

But Furihata doesn't want to go for lunch, where they'll eat and make conversation like they're just acquaintances in case someone Akashi knows is watching. He could leave now and do something more productive, use his time better, as could Akashi. Furihata doesn't understand why they've been stretching this out so thinly for so long, seemingly forever trying to maintain something that has been absent for a long time; something they can’t maintain.

He dislikes how much his view of Akashi has changed over the years, how different their approach to each other has become.

Akashi would never prioritise Furihata over his professional reputation, would never break away from commitments to his father, would never be affectionate and open and work towards something they would both be happy with.

Or perhaps he would, but Furihata isn't the one for it. 

Maybe he’s being unfair and expecting more than Akashi can fill. Maybe it's his own fault for not recognising their clashing lifestyles and expectations towards each other. Maybe he should be more considerate to Akashi’s personal limitations, personal circumstances.

Nevertheless, he still doesn't want to go to lunch, still doesn't imagine spending the day with Akashi, still has a need for something else. Surely this is all saying something?

"Kouki?" Akashi voices, full attention on the other, watching as Furihata is seemingly stuck focused on his phone screen. Akashi’s heart rate quickly elevates with their sudden eye contact, Furihata’s eyes showing sadness and surrender and something that looks like it’ll hurt.

"I'll drive you to the train station," he murmurs, snappy quality from earlier completely gone. Akashi tightens his jaw, feeling on edge with Furihata’s sudden coolness, wary from Furihata’s earlier attitude. 

“I told you,” he starts, slowly, trying to remain outwardly composed “the train will not arrive for at least an hour-“

"I’ll drive around the area for a while…we need to have a talk on the way. I'll see you off safely."

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A completely different mood and style on this one, super experimental. I'm pretty sure this is the most dramatic thing I've written. I tell myself I don't like angst, but then I do like angst. Everything in moderation? Hope you enjoyed :)


	7. Drift and Fade

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Angst, separation, Akashi-centric.

Akashi got back from the train station, walking up to his apartment.

_‘We’ve both changed. Our goals and expectations are too different, Sei.’_

But were they truly too different? Akashi didn’t understand, couldn’t agree with a word Furihata had told him, but couldn’t refute him either. Changed how?

For months, longer even, Akashi had been waiting until he accumulated enough to move out from the Akashi residence; subtly pulling out from all the business connections he had been tied into, arranging job transfers without causing ripples that would rock back to his father, delegating his professional responsibilities to suitable people. Generally doing everything to ensure that his absence wouldn’t cause issues that he specifically would be needed for.

He wanted to leave no loose ends, wanted to make sure the cut was clean. Wanted to give Akashi Masaomi no reason to demand anything from him.

Wasn’t that what Furihata wanted too? For them to eventually go elsewhere? Settle into a new life, and do so _together_. It would take time, but they would have gotten there. _Would_ have.

With even steps, no different to how they were on any other day, Akashi approached his apartment number. He opened the door, keys jangling with old funky keyrings Furihata had gifted him over the years.

_‘We haven’t talked for two months. You’re never there.’_

But he would’ve been there – just a little longer, a year at most, and he would’ve been done with it all. A couple of months and they would have been on the way to a nice summer house in Italy, or France, or anywhere Furihata desired. He would’ve made it happen.

Was it too much waiting time, too long ahead in the future? He hadn’t told Furihata about any of these plans, wanted it to be the ‘ultimate surprise’. Did Furihata not want that? What _did_ Furihata want?

Oh.

_‘We practically don’t know anything about each other anymore. It’s…it’s not right.’_

He dropped his bag onto the floor against the sofa and threw the keys onto the centre a small coffee table, not aggressively but with enough force to make them skid to the edge.

_‘I don’t think you even feel my absence. We’ve drifted, Sei.’_

But Akashi did feel his absence. Distracted himself as much as possible when they couldn’t meet to take his mind off it. He also had to get his work done and couldn’t afford to be slowed down. Maybe he distracted himself too well, so much so that he remained distracted even when Furihata was right there with him. Neglected things.

He felt his absence now more than ever – there was nothing in his flat to show Furihata’s presence in the first place. No extra toothbrush by the sink, no spare clothes, no small belongings scattered around, no favourite foods in the fridge, nothing. He had the keyrings but most of them had broken off or worn out, paint chipping, and would fade away into simple metal like the rest of them. 

Surely for someone who’s been in a relationship for five years would have something to show for it, and this thought induced a scalding burning in his chest.

Did Akashi not create an environment where Furihata felt comfortable leaving pieces of himself? Wasn’t that the whole aim? How did he manage to alienate him to that extent?

He randomly remembered the first day he moved in Furihata had bought in a plant pot that he’d decorated himself. Where was it now? How could he have not noticed the lack of something so big and bright? Furihata didn’t have to come back to collect his things, because there wasn’t anything left to begin with.

His vision blurred, eyes as uncomfortably hot as his chest, but he didn’t want allow himself anything more than that, just quietly sitting in front of a blank TV screen with wet eyes.

Something that had seemed so permanent in his life, so constant, didn’t leave a single mark, nothing to evidence it ever existing.

_‘I love you, but it’s not the same, is it? It’s never been balanced.’_

So which way was it skewed? Akashi was ready to flip his whole life over, unlearn all the standards and lifestyles he’d been taught with his particular upbringing. How could Furihata suggest Akashi wasn’t as invested, wasn’t as involved? Was that what he was suggesting? Or was it on the other side of the spectrum? Was Furihata not as invested in him, not interested anymore?

The thought hurt more than the others and Akashi quickly covered his eyes and tipped his head back, trying to rein himself in.

His phone rings sharply through the silence and Akashi whips to his bag by the sofa, not even looking at the screen and answering with an _almost_ imperceptible tremor.

“Hello?”

“Akashi-san, Ido-san requested a meeting in-“

Bluntly he responds “Cancel it.” and shuts the call before the other line manages a full reply, cutting her voice off. The phone remains in his hand, but he chooses not to check for any messages. He continues sitting in the unlit living room, analysing through his thoughts without any luck in unravelling the situation.

Through it all he managed one general conclusion, one that made him feel irreversibly defeated. Too much focus on the future that somehow, somewhere, he had made a mistake in the present.

He could’ve turned things round earlier if he’d picked up on this quicker, would have done something to help put them back on track. He should’ve been paying more attention. Doesn’t matter who’s at fault, or if was both of them, should’ve asked Furihata more about what he wanted, what he saw for their future together.

Could’ve, would’ve, should’ve.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I was debating putting another chapter of something different in-between to break the angsty stuff up a bit, but then decided to keep them next to each other. Is it still a oneshot if there's two chapters? I guess they can still be read separately, so in my mind it counts :P Hope it feeds in well to Furihata's one and that you enjoyed it ^^


	8. Thursday lull

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> AU, fluff, aged up, established relationship.

Furihata watched as Akashi signed letter after letter, carefully sealing each envelope and adding the Akashi family stamp before moving on to the next one. His wrist carefully manoeuvred around each pen stroke, rich dark red ink gliding evenly across the paper. With the way the lamp was angled, Furihata could see the fleeting moment when the ink was still wet and glossy on the page before it dried and dulled down onto the paper’s texture.

It was impressive. If Furihata was the one doing that he would’ve smudged everything, definitely not one for fountains pens. Akashi was getting through the party invitations like an organic handwriting machine, each copy of his name as neat and perfect as the first, practically printed.

The repetitive movements were relaxing. Furihata closed his eyes, feeling tired dryness, and settled easier into the sofa. The atmosphere was too peaceful, it was difficult to not doze off. Consistent scratching of pen against paper, rain tapping on glass, fire softly crackling away in the fireplace, Akashi’s easy breathing. All natural tunes layered over each other in a perfect remix for dozing away.

He didn’t come over to Akashi’s Tokyo house often, but he was happy every time he got the opportunity. It was a very odd getaway, being in such a large and quiet place while in the heart of bustling Tokyo.

“Kouki, don’t sleep. We’ll have to leave soon.”

Furihata just gave a very shallow nod. So shallow Akashi might not have noticed it.

The pen sounds stopped and there was a gentle tumbling thud of papers being evened out across the desk’s surface. More tapping and organising followed until Akashi rose up from the armchair. He bent over Furihata and softly lifted his upper body from the sofa before sitting himself there, resting Furihata against him instead.

“You’re all cold. There was the whole rest of the sofa to sit on.” Furihata said with a grumble, mild goose bumps breaking out under his shirt, clinging further at Akashi’s torso anyway.

“You should have gone to sleep earlier. And this is closest to the fire, why would I sit away from it if I’m colder, hm?” Akashi’s fingers went to Furihata’s hair, brushing out the side on which he was laying before and had already knotted up.

Furihata lifted his head, dislodging Akashi’s fingers “Um, excuse me, whose fault was it that we went to sleep late?”

“Are you putting the whole blame on me? It takes two to tango, if I recall the phrase correctly.”

“Well, maybe you don’t ‘recall the phrase correctly’.”

“That was weak Kouki. Definitely not enough sleep then. We’ll need to arrange an earlier bedtime.”

“Oh stop.” Furihata chuckled and weakly swatted at Akashi, laying his head back down. He glanced at the clock and really didn’t want to go, now that it was approaching the time they needed to leave. It looked cold outside and he was so warm here… “Don’t you need to finish the invitations?”

“It can wait. I’ve signed the majority now.” And he _had_ been sorting through the envelopes for a while now. Furihata wasn’t impatient but he couldn’t keep himself concentrated for so long either. He shifted slightly as Akashi reached to take out his phone and sent a text to his assistant, turning it off once a reply pinged through.

“They’re so lucky. I wish I got a personal signature from _the_ Akashi Seijuro. Y’know though, it’s kinda weird looking.”

“If you want something as simple as that I can easily sign a thousand of anything for you.” Furihata was going to intercept and accuse unnecessary cheesiness but Akashi carried on talking. “What’s kind of weird looking?”

“The signature. You used red ink. It’s a bit creepy, looks like blood. Like a threat?” Furihata deepened his voice, trying to imitate the warningly calm tone Akashi used when unhappy with his workmates “Come to my party or else.” He giggled, the sound loud against the quiet, imagining a younger Akashi with his short fringe threatening business officials with a red ink fountain pen.

It’s an image that used to unsettle him, Akashi during that unstable period. Whenever he looks back on it now he just sees a teenager who had been harshly steered in unfavourable directions, vulnerable in a way young Furihata would never have been able to see.

“You sound like my literature teacher, Kouki. It just adds some variation to all the black text, no one will look that deeply into it.”

“Yeah yeah, just playing.” Furihata snuggled into Akashi’s side but stopped himself from getting too comfortable. “So when are we gonna get ready? You said we’d need to leave by five right?”

“Hm, don’t worry about that. You can rest.”

“What? Are you sure?”

“I asked Ido to go in my stead, I’m sure they won’t mind.”

“Are you _sure_ sure? We’ve still got time?”

Akashi smiled against the top of Furihata’s head. “Sure sure.”

They both got themselves comfortable, Furihata going completely loose, silently but obviously glad at this turn of events. Akashi reached for the blanket on the opposite side of the sofa with his leg, unfurling it over both of them and undoing a few buttons on his dress shirt to allow himself to spread less restrictively.

They were both thinking that they wouldn’t actually fall asleep – Furihata was going to rest his eyes for maybe twenty odd minutes and then would get up and make dinner for them. Akashi was going to lay until Furihata clocked out into dreamland and then would carry on with the letters.

There was however a lulling quiet in the room. Akashi was finally warming up, both the shared body heat trapped by the cover and the hearth discouraging any desire to get up. Plus, there was no need to jostle Furihata a second time. Without their chatter the room became even more muted, rain becoming softer and fire gradually burning away into glowing embers, tick tock of the clock chiming past five.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Another short one, hope you liked. Also! Nearing the end :) I’m sort of maybe planning a Halloween themed one, and nothing grand in mind for the finale. I set myself the goal of ten chapters and I don’t know if I’ll be adding anymore drabbles after that, but I’m not 100% ruling it out either…
> 
> Another also, I’m kind of working on a longer piece, more of a story rather than a oneshot, and I’ve got a bit of a momentum going so I might not update the rest of this as frequently. Best weekend wishes <3


	9. Small steps

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Fluff, food, rejection(ish), friendship.

Akashi looked around where Furihata had brought them, away from the rest of the group. It was lush and green, trees standing tall and hanging over to cover some of the sun.

They’d gone out, the miracles and some of Kuroko’s Seirin friends for some basketball, a friendly outing. Friendly of course until Aomine and Kagami competed to the death but Akashi remained purposefully uninvolved in that.

He took a time-out while the others were playing and heard Furihata also excusing himself to join him. He asked Akashi if they could talk, wringing his hands together, and so they went, the others not really noticing the departure.

Furihata came to a stop once they’ve reached a clearing, facing Akashi a few paces away.

Akashi liked Furihata, or what he’d seen of him so far. They were friends, he assumed, in those very early stages. He was happy to hear or help with whatever Furihata called him out for, surprisingly. There was something very benevolent about him, the type of person that he meshed well with.

Akashi noticed that he tended to get very nervous in certain situations, certain conditions, and this was probably one of them. Furihata was twiddling his thumbs, leg bouncy, and kept looking off to the left. Akashi’s face then immediately down and left. Hopefully it wasn't anything serious.

Akashi’s also observed over the few months that it’s better to let Furihata ease things out himself rather than push. Kagami had told him to spill on the issue he was having with one of his classmates when they were out eating a few weeks ago, and Furihata had clamped up and dodged it expertly, conversational misdirection almost as impressive as Kuroko's on court.

And it was a good thing he waited, since Furihata straightened his posture and looked at him directly as he spoke up.

“So I uh, I-I’m, I wanted to like, tell you, because…it’ll be better either way, I think, so. I’ll just say it now. Like now, yeah now.”

Akashi nodded to him, suddenly curious.

“I uh, I like you! L-Like, romantically, but not just that! You’re a cool person as well. I mean, there’s more than that but, yeah. I, you don’t have to say anything, just…wanted you to know. It felt like I was deceiving you without saying anything. Already feels lighter, y’know?” he chuckles with no happiness in it, the thumb twiddling becoming a touch harsher “I think that’s…I’ll stop there.”

And now Akashi needed a moment to think and collect himself, curiosity quelled. His eyebrows rose automatically and a light tapping sounded, much less obvious than Furihata was doing but noticeable, the heavier materials of his shoes forcing more noise.

This wasn’t what he was expecting, something he wouldn’t have seen coming, not from a mile away and not even from a lifetime away. They say expect the unexpected but how would you go about doing so?

Furihata takes a few steps closer and makes a movement to lift his arms but doesn’t go through with it. Akashi’s gaze is fixed on his face, unfocused.

“Sorry to just, drop that on you…I uh…like I said you don’t have to do anything...”

Akashi takes in Furihata’s concerned expression and still doesn’t know what to say. Maybe he should’ve been pushy and stopped this incident from happening. A light move of air wafted past as Furihata took a few steps back again, dry sound of feet dragging across rough ground following.

“I’ll give you space, sorry, that was selfish of me, should’ve thought about how this would be on you as well…I’ve um, I’ve got my stuff here.” He patted his bag which Akashi didn’t notice him bringing. As though Furihata was ready to leave from the get-go. “…So yeah. I’ll see y- I’ll tell Kuroko I wasn’t feeling well, you don’t have to tell anyone.”

Furihata left with an awkward and wobbly ‘bye bye’. He offered to bring a drink before he left but Akashi shook his head. He waved, a few seconds too late, at Furihata’s withdrawn shuffle out of the area, and turned back to re-join the rest. He’ll put this aside and dissect it later.

It all flashed by so fast the sequence was almost hazy.

On his return Kuroko asked if Furihata needed to be accompanied home, but Akashi assured him that he had already left.

\-------

The following few months Akashi didn’t see Furihata at all. Kuroko said that he joined another club on top of basketball and was busier, so frequently declined Kuroko’s offers to go out with them. Kuroko didn’t display this as a problem, describing that Furihata was doing well. No one else seemed to mind but Akashi did.

The issue was that while Kuroko got to see him at school, Akashi didn’t have opportunity to catch him _at all_. He was in Kyoto more often than not, and the only contact he had with Seirin was through Kuroko. Now that contact was null as Furihata didn’t tag along anymore.

Akashi thought ‘giving space’ was a temporary thing, not a ‘I’ll never show my face again’ thing.

He had time to think through the situation and formulated a response he wished he had when he was standing with Furihata, right there in the moment.

_‘Thank you for letting me know, it was a courageous decision and I appreciate the honesty. Personally I don’t think I’m interested in you romantically, however I do enjoy your company. It would be nice for us to get to know each other better. Maybe without Kuroko in the middle, if that is something you’re comfortable with, considering the circumstances?’_

Furihata had said that he just wanted to get things out, so it seemed like safe ground for them to still hang out occasionally? He would’ve respected anything otherwise, although he was sure Furihata was the type of person who could recover without drama.

Except Furihata hasn’t been around for a solid three months and as closely as he’s been listening to glimpses of how he’s doing through Kuroko’s conversations, there’s no sign of any intention to show up. He’s not listening now, because Kuroko is talking about their resident dog mascot.

It affected Akashi more than he anticipated, their informal ‘parting’ without true resolution. On top of everything there was also a psychological itch to give Furihata a response, a piece of mind that he no doubt deserved.

After (not a lot of) deliberation Akashi interrupted Kuroko’s story about Nigou, mind made up. “Tetsuya, I haven’t seen Furihata in a while. I presume you have his number?”

\-------

“Akashi-san!”

Akashi located the voice as soon as he stepped on to the platform, securing his bag and waving. Furihata looked good, loose and comfortable clothing swishing on his body as he jogged up to him, expertly weaving around the Tokyo crowd. It’d been so long seen he’d last seen him he forgot how tranquil Furihata was, fluffy and soft to the eyes. “Good afternoon. Long time no see.”

Furihata blushed, uneasy, and mumbled out a hesitant ‘yeah’. He grabbed a leaflet out of his own backpack and handed it to him, the card slightly fluttering under his shaky hold.

“This is where we’re going. My brother went last year. I uh, it’s not far from the station, if you don’t mind walking? It’s cool if you’re no-”

“It’s no issue, the weather is nice. Shall we?”

After a few text conversations Furihata had invited him to a food stall market, apparently a big annual event in his area. Akashi saw no reason not to, and wanted to let Furihata choose so that it was somewhere he was comfortable with. Places Akashi went for tended to steer closer to ‘stuffy and formal’, as Kuroko frequently told him. Better for them to stay on even ground.

After filtering out of the station Furihata led them into a smaller, rougher pathway. There was less pavement and more earth the further they went along, tarmac gradually crumbling away.

The path narrowed and narrowed until suddenly exiting them into a large park space, the smell of food hitting him before the sight of it did. Akashi could make out a lot going by smell alone, anything from grilled meat to something sugary and fried, just a hint to the amount of selection there actually was. Every metre of flat grass was covered with stalls and food trucks, bright signs and banners dazzling and popping with colour to entice customers.

Taking in his surroundings Akashi quickly became conscious of his clothes. Furihata was dressed as though he bought a costume for this particular occasion, loose grey shorts and a baggy blue shirt with fluorescent writing. Sporty, free, relaxed. It put more skin on show than usual (outside the basketball uniform), and Furihata had a subtle summer zing to his skin. 

Akashi went down the smart casual route, dress shirt and belt and leather shoes. Not the most suitable attire to be walking around deep fryers and earthy ground but they’re here now.

“I kinda have a method for this, start at the left and go round.”

“You’ve attended before?”

“Most years! Didn’t go last time, and they have some new things each year. It’s gonna be delicious, I know the best bits. Trust me you’re in good hands.”

Akashi chuckled with a miniscule chord of nervousness. He didn’t often eat this type of food, and didn’t want to discourage Furihata with the uneven enthusiasm. He didn’t doubt Furihata’s…expertise should he say, just his own picky palette. Furihata currently looked happy and at ease, no anxious tics to his movements, and Akashi wanted it to remain that way.

They started off with bite-sized chicken skewers brushed with an orangey brown sauce, cooked right in front of them over an open fire. It smelled good, and after Furihata took a happy bite Akashi hesitantly tucked in to his own.

“Do you like it? I always start with savoury and then fill up on the sweets, but we can sort of alternate it?”

Akashi chewed it around his mouth, letting the sauce cover his tongue and found it delicious, nowhere near as greasy as he expected it to be. “It’s very good. I’m happy to follow along.”

“Ah I’m glad! Now that we've knocked the first one down the rest will be easy!”

Akashi’s heart hummed at Furihata’s genuine delight, internally jolting when Furihata’s elbow prodded his side and a cheesy wink was aimed his way.

“Follow along? Giving away your leader position?”

Akashi for some reason lost grip of his skewer, catching it just before it fell by slapping it mid-air into his chest. The sticky sauce quickly saturated into pale fabric, coming off with a slick sound. Furihata quickly asked for napkins from the vendor and passed them to Akashi.

“Are you okay? Did it hurt your hands? It wasn’t too hot was it?”

“No, it’s all fine, thank you.”

Furihata giggled, taking the tissue back to throw it in the bin. “The chicken just wanted to be closer to your heart.”

He didn’t have a chance to quip back as Furihata brought them forward, already talking to another vendor for something potato-like. It was then that he realised Furihata was a bit jumpy, eager to keep things moving without giving much space for conversation. A conversation that Akashi wanted to have.

Eventually they got pulled in by the busy flow of the crowd, straying from the ‘staying on the left’ idea, just buying whatever caught their fancy. Akashi ended up tasting a lot more than he thought he was willing to, inspired by Furihata’s adventurous approach to trying anything and everything.

He pointed out to Akashi which stalls he’d seen before and which ones were new to the scene, greeting sellers that he knew and occasionally getting stuff for free.

He was simply glowing today, nothing like the timid figure on that uneasy confession day, which already seemed so far away on his mental timeline. He'd left too much time, should've asked for his number earlier.

When Akashi felt like his belt would snap from the stretch Furihata suggested they move on to desserts, patting his belly with a satisfied sigh.

It was at this point that Akashi subtly reclaimed his ‘leader position’, suggesting they get a few sweet treats and take a seat. Furihata grazed a hand through his hair, fingers jittery but obliging. They dallied across the dessert stalls, tempted by ice cream and crepes but settling on more familiar flavours.

Walking away from the crowd Furihata munched through a pale, sweet anko bean bun as they found a nice patch of grass to rest on. Akashi forgot all about being careful with his clothes, adjusting his belt a notch lower before sitting cross legged, unwrapping a doughnut.

“It looks so much cooler now that it’s a bit darker.”

Akashi hadn’t kept track of time but could wholeheartedly agree. Less sunlight allowed the neon lights decorated around the stalls to glow through, reflecting into their surroundings with a multitude of pretty shades, effectively bouncing off each other. There was a particularly ambitious light display of a cartoon peanut character waving its sunglasses, with fluorescent neon stars flashing intermittently around it.

Time had passed so quickly, he almost wanted to be eternally stuck in this atmosphere, aromatic summer air and Furihata’s quietly buzzing energy by his side. But. They had a topic to resolve and the night wouldn’t last forever.

“This has been a very good experience, thank you for inviting me out.” And it was, he’d seen Furihata in a completely different light, with longer interaction than they’ve had in all the sporadic outings with Kuroko combined. Furihata was a pleasantly mellow person, someone he could easily stomach in large quantities. Would want around in large quantities.

Furihata waved his wrist to him, flicking off the compliment “Not at all, thank you for accompanying me. I usually always go with my cousins. It was cool when they were younger but now I think they find it a little lame.”

Akashi thought he would have to tease him into their much-needed chat but Furihata was perceptive, swiftly moving on.

“I know we haven’t, like, seen each other in a while. It’s all thanks to you for reaching out.”

“Why the sudden disappearance?”

Furihata bought his knees up to his chest, shorts hiking up his thighs, and started lightly rocking. “I- well, after I shoved my feelings on you it seemed best to give you space. Y-You didn’t look too happy, I didn’t want to aggravate anything. Or make you more uncomfortable. I know the feeling of feeling boxed in by someone. And I know that we aren’t even that close. Not that you had to be happy or anything! I just- yeah. That’s the gist of it…also I kinda needed the time to recover from my embarrassment. It lasted a while. Like a very good while. Even now, maybe...”

Furihata went red, and Akashi could almost see the memory being reinforced in his head. He didn't at all want to berate or shame Furihata, or even suggest anything along those lines and so moved on.

“Please accept my apologies as well. It wasn’t my intention to leave you hanging, as they say, it was just very unexpected. It didn’t make me uncomfortable in the way I think you think it did. I really respect the courage to do so.”

“Yeah…I didn’t really rehearse, just rambled out whatever came…it was very spontaneous.” Furihata wasn’t looking at him, chewing on the anko dessert with less fervour, eyes following the people passing them.

“And. You’re right. We are not that close.” Akashi came with the intention to say that he didn’t reciprocate Furihata’s feelings, however, try as he might that didn’t ring true anymore.

He realised over the course of the day that he’s been a lot more invested in seeing Furihata and them becoming better acquainted than he allowed himself to dwell on over these past few months.

An outright rejection didn’t feel appropriate, because it wouldn’t reflect his feelings.

“I would like for us to become a little more familiar with each other. The first small step, if you like?”

Furihata froze mid chew and looked at him from the side, head remaining fixed forward. The surprise on his face was comical, mouth paused mid-bite and Akashi laughed, teeth finally sinking into his own doughnut.

Furihata coughed and wiped his mouth with the back of his hand, crumbs falling to the ground. He stumbled around words, all slightly incoherent before deciding on a shy yet sure nod. He clears his throat and at last manages a sentence.

“T-That, that would be nice. Small steps are the best steps.”

Furihata must’ve been still in shock at this outcome but Akashi was pleased. He couldn’t have asked for a better evening. Small steps; the potential for more was there and it was solid. They would get through that unfamiliar territory, and Akashi was sure it would lead them somewhere good. If he thought about it this was all thanks to Furihata - if he hadn't confessed they might not have broken past their 'just acquaintances' stage at all. Courage in the little things.

Furihata walked him back to the station, sending him off with a souvenir t-shirt, its bright yellow front branded with a cute chicken mascot from their first stall. He didn’t notice him getting it but the consideration was endearing.

“To make up for the shirt earlier.”

He thanked him for the purchase with a smile, folding it carefully into his bag. Furihata waved at him for as long as they could see each other from the train before Furihata’s blue-shirted figure went too far out of sight.

He sat down in his reserved seat, sated and relaxed. Next time, however soon that might be, Akashi would make sure to treat Furihata to a day just as good.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Ta da, she churns out another one :P I'm not sure I'll be doing a Halloween-y one anymore, but trust me I tried. Hope you enjoyed :))


	10. Warm and Warmer

**Summary for the Chapter:**

> Soulmate AU (very light on the concept though), fluff, drinks, aged up.

Furihata looked at the couple holding hands over the table, soul marks identical and glowing on their forearms. He doesn’t want to say that he’s jealous but he is jealous. The more he surveys around the café the more soulmates he sees and it puts him off his work.

A few minutes in he packs away his laptop and leaves without finishing his coffee, the couple still holding hands, somehow sitting even closer than before. As the outside chill hits his skin he remembers why he went into the café in the first place – this December is particularly cold.

Furihata has a soulmate, has met and knows him and all that, it’s just that they’re not…all that compatible. Which is majorly ironic because a soulmate is the other half of your soul, the quite literal perfect match. And yet.

Akashi is a cool guy (much cooler than cool, Furihata had clamped up when they met, overwhelmed by his appearance and presence and everything), talented and excels in probably all the ways there are to excel in. A lot cooler than Furihata, and this is where the issues come in.

He was (if being generous) maybe just about mid-tier, while Akashi was at the top of the league. At the top of the top league. The fact that he was so influential and wealthy at such a young age, achieved so much while Furihata is still waddling through making the big decisions put a certain type of pressure to their interactions (at least on Furihata’s end), something uncomfortable constantly lingering between them. He couldn't pinpoint what it was but it was certainly present.

Akashi was always polite with him, never made Furihata feel inferior or unwelcomed but that awkwardness didn't really fade with more interactions. They’ve gone out a couple of times but haven’t really moved anything past acquaintances, in Furihata's view. He's pretty sure he's closer to his delivery guy than Akashi.

He always expected his soulmate would be someone average, something he's used to and someone he could build an average, typical life with.

Akashi probably doesn't know the definition of average. Or does, in that vague understanding you can have but never grasping it fully because you've never experience it first-hand. It's a difficult situation - Furihata can't really relate to Akashi's world, and the same would apply for Akashi. 

Furihata does want to have that special person to be with, is no different to the rest of the soulmate saps, however what he doesn’t want is for them to hover around each other just because they’ve got matching marks. Soulmates are soulmates but you can’t force things. Furihata is a bit old-school in that regard. He's not a professional but he's pretty sure their practically opposite lifestyles will have to be forced together in some way for them to work in some way.

Even then, he's not sure they would mesh that well in the long term. Maybe Furihata is focusing too much on the negatives, but those negatives are pretty major points which aren't the easiest to overlook. 

He walks up to his door and fumbles with the keys, unable to twist them into the lock properly due to the cold stiffness in his fingers. He huffs and drops everything else to try and wedge the key in but it refuses to turn. There's a small sheen of frost on the steps so he can't be too dramatic in his movements, and after a particularly hard yank he gets that about-to-slip swoopy feeling as his feet momentarily lose traction. It's just letdown after letdown today.

“I think you’ve got the wrong key.” 

Furihata’s head whips to the voice to see Akashi standing just a step below and the keys jangle onto the floor with a metallic ting. “Akashi-kun! Hey! W-What’s up?”. 

“Thought I’d visit for the weekend. Good timing, thought I would have to wait until you got back. You usually go out to town on Fridays, if I'm correct.”

“No no, all good. And uh, yeah, I was out today.” Furihata eyed the plastic bags Akashi was holding as he went to pick up the keys. They had an unfamiliar logo, and Furihata wondered why Akashi decided on this weekend particularly. Usually they’d arrange their meetings like…well, like a meeting.

“Here I’ll take one.” Bag in hand Furihata kicked the door open and they made their way inside, the door clicking shut on its swing back.

Both of them tittered around for a bit, taking off coats and settling stuff down. Furihata placed the bag he took onto the table and went to switch the heating on. He often turned it off when he went out to save energy however it meant always coming back to a cold apartment in the frostier months. 

On his return to the living room Akashi had arranged two plates and the second plastic bag out on the counter, shuffling through it to take out whatever was inside. Furihata considered going over to stand next to him but though it would be too close into Akashi's space. Instead he went over to sit on a chair in front, hands in his lap.

“Sorry it’s a bit cold. What have you got in there?”

Akashi shook his head. “No issue”. He opened a box to show what he was unpacking, fingers gently folding down the packaging. “Some cakes and the like. There were a lot of deals since we’re approaching Christmas. This time of the year is both a blessing and a curse.”

"Oh, how come?"

"Christmas makes people spend, so better sales, however more sales means more work. The office was very busy." He cut into a rectangular mille-feuille and separated it between the two plates.

Furihata sensed a silence approaching and was antsy to fill it before conversation died completely. “Did you come from Kyoto?”

Akashi shook his head again, reaching over for the cutlery drawer. “I had a business lunch here and a meeting tomorrow so I’ll be staying in Tokyo until then. Should we sit on the sofa?”

“Yeah, sure.” Furihata went over to the sitting area and turned the TV on. Akashi cleaned up the station and came to sit as well, handing Furihata a plate with pretty cakes and glossy pastries, some a bit wonky from being squashed in the boxing. “Thanks.”

Furihata thought Akashi would go for the armchair but he sat himself fairly close to Furihata’s side. He undid his tie and loosened the collar, which exposed the mark – their mark – on his collarbone and Furihata quickly swung his eyes elsewhere. This time the TV did the work for him and they didn’t talk for a while. He didn’t really understand this impromptu visit but didn’t know how to ask without being rude. Furihata was really out of his element right now, couldn't find his footing. 

An advert came on and this time Furihata had a topic prepared, brain finally doing some work. “This is really good.” He spooned another piece of sponge into his mouth and chewed it around slowly to make the most of it. “Where did you get it?”

“There’s a shop on the way from the station, the one next to the grocer.”

“Ah, cool.”

Akashi nodded and they finished there again. Furihata noticed that he hadn’t taken a bite of anything on his plate, spoon shining clean on the side. And this highlights that awkwardness that Furihata always feels – familiar enough to visit each other yet not enough to talk and ask without reserve like you would with a friend. A tip-toe dance that he should have finished by know except they’re still not practiced in each other’s steps and moves.

“Are you- is yours okay?”

“Yes.”

Furihata opened his mouth to ask something else, anything, because Akashi’s, dare he say it _sad_ eyes made him a little upset, but Akashi beat him to it.

“It’s my birthday.”

Furihata stilled, giving out a breathy “What?”

“December twentieth.” Akashi pointed to a calendar Furihata had on the wall, the day completely blank of notes or events.

He gasped. “_What_? Why didn’t you tell me?”. The shock allowed him to forget about appropriate proximity and he leaned right into Akashi’s space, plate quickly placed on the coffee table in front of them with an arm steadying him behind Akashi’s head.

Akashi looked back into his eyes with a different shock to Furihata’s and placed his plate back too. “I…I’m not sure. It was not important and I’ve had a busy-“

“Not important!? Dude. You even bought cake. You’re not supposed to buy cake on your birthday. Oh my god.” Furihata brought a palm to rub over his eyes, harsh enough to mess up his eyebrows, angry at himself. A birthday was the perfect opportunity to get friendlier and he’d blown it. Forget being soulmates, it was kind of common courtesy. He was thinking of all the ways he could possibly redeem himself, how to recover from making this the worst birthday Akashi has probably ever had, until Akashi intervened.

He brought a cold hand to tug his own away from his face, gently folding the fingers against his palm. “Please don’t worry yourself. I didn’t want any elaborate celebration and it’s better to spend my time with you-“

“What?”

Akashi’s mouth was still open from the previous sentences Furihata had cut in to, but it remained hung open, not getting what Furihata was implying by the question. “…What do you mean ‘what’? I’m sorry for barging in but you mentioned that you weren’t doing anything today and I-“

“You wanted to spend your birthday with _me_?”

Akashi furrowed his eyebrows at him, as though that was obvious. Was it obvious? Furihata was at a loss – Akashi has so many other, decidedly cooler people to go to, such as his whole crazy popular ‘miracle gang’ and he genuinely has trouble believing that he wanted to be _here_ of all places. With _Furihata_.

Now that his brain was back in some semblance of order Furihata realised how close they’d gotten and began drawing back but Akashi’s hand tightened around his.

“Of course I did. Furihata, I don’t enjoy anyone’s company quite as much as I enjoy yours.” Akashi voiced this in a way which implied it was a given and Furihata’s mind spun with it.

“I- but you- I thought…?”

Akashi angled his head, red eyes impossibly sharp, studying over his whole face. “Thought what?”

Furihata shook his whole head, forcing out all of the little sentences dinging within his brain. It’s Akashi’s birthday and he needs to make it at least somewhat of a good time. Discussing his insecurities can come later.

He also dismisses the warmness that had spread within him at _‘I don’t enjoy anyone’s company as much as I enjoy yours’. _That’s something he’ll look into later. Not the main priority right now.

“Doesn’t matter, let’s create a better December birthday mood!”

“A better December mood?”

“Yeah, just hang on.” Furihata dashed out into his bedroom and took a few spare covers and pillows, hurriedly spilling them onto the sofa, socked feet skidding on the flooring. Akashi looked at him funny as he draped the cover over Akashi’s shoulders and proceeded to wrap the whole cover around him. 

He touched his shoulders lightly to get him to lean back against the sofa in a more relaxed position. Again Furihata forgot about being too close and with his hands still on Akashi’s shoulders leaned in to say “I’m gonna make hot chocolate, don’t move.” He patted the cover and went to turn on the kettle.

“What are you doing?”

“Just trust me.” He didn’t have any whipped cream but there were mini marshmallows and he didn’t hold back. While he was in the kitchen he flitted around the cupboards to see if he had any candles or even a stray party hat but nada. Next time for sure. 

One teaspoon of cinnamon and a dash of ginger spice syrup later two steaming mugs joined the two plates. Furihata turned down the lights and asked Akashi about his film preferences. Not a minute later a film was set up (something completely different to what either of them seemed to like, but Furihata thought something unfamiliar to both of them would be more fun) and he re-joined Akashi, wrapping a blanket around himself as well.

“This isn’t much, but at least we're warm now.” Furihata breathed out, a little worn after all the rushing about t get Akashi more comfy.

Akashi nodded and brought a cup up to his lips, corners raised into a quick smile that Furihata catches. “It’s better. The cover smells like you.”

“Y-Yeah. Sorry, next time I’ll be prepared.” He realised that he’d rushed into the future there, for the second time, but the words were out. Everything was kind of rushing past.

“I’ll hold you to it. Thank you.”

“Please don’t thank me, you had to buy cakes for your own birthday.” Furihata pouted. His mother would be disappointed if she knew.

They quietened for the film, and for the first time it didn’t feel off, didn’t feel like there had to be noise. Furihata had unconsciously burrowed closer to Akashi, the few jump scares making him wary and they soon drained the hot chocolate. About halfway through Akashi had also finished his pastries, and soon enough the credits rolled in.

Furihata was warm, extremely warm but in a completely snug, comfortable way. He knew he would soon need to get up and see Akashi off, however the room had heated up as well and the atmosphere was too tranquil. Hazy almost, that floaty semi-asleep feeling. It made him brave. That sort of I’m-in-a-dream-but-I’m-lucid-so-I-can-do-crazy-stuff-without-consequence brave.

“I kinda don’t want you to go yet.”

Akashi sounded a touch surprised when he replied. “I’ll stay for as long as you want me to.”

Furihata laughed, hoping it would distract from his blush. He felt exposed in the muted hum of the background, like his words were too loud and jarring. “You said you have a meeting tomorrow.”

“Those are not hard to reschedule.” Akashi nudged close enough to rest his head on Furihata’s shoulder, breaths softly whooshing down Furihata’s neck, making the mark on his clavicle heat.

He wondered whether Akashi felt the connection as well. The evening has spun into the complete opposite of what he’d assumed and he’s glad for it. The increased intimacy didn't escape his notice however he found that he didn’t really mind Akashi’s warmth against his.

“You can- You can stay here. Overnight. For the meeting. There’s a spare room and I’ve got loads of-“

“That would be great.” Akashi whispered into the space between skin and blanket.

“O-Okay.”

A couple of minutes later he spoke up again, hair tickling Furihata's skin. “I feel like we’ve made a very large amount of progress today.”

“Huh? Progress?”

Akashi shifted to sit a bit straighter, their faces in full view of each other. “Yes. I’ve found it…difficult to…I don’t know. I want to be around you but without pushing into boundaries.”

This evening has had so many unexpected plot twists they might as well make their own drama. “I thought…I thought you visited me out of like, obligation?”

“Obligation?”

“Yeah cause, y’know, we’re matched and it’s kinda expected.” Furihata rushed out the next sentence, wanting it to be said aloud instead of just in his head. “B-But I don’t really want us to be, like, together just cause that’s what you have to do.”

“Not at all. When we met and I felt it,” Akashi held a palm over his collarbone as he said it, hand going under the loosened collar of his shirt. “I was happy. In my mind the image of me was always…alone. To know that I am like everyone else, and that I have someone to accompany me it…I’ve never felt such intense belonging. The mental picture of me and you together fit instantly.”

Furihata nodded, a bit slow with processing this information.

He was awed at Akashi’s everything in the moment. The soft eyes and the open smile, how he looked almost bashful while talking. He’s never opened up like that and Furihata's interested in what the trigger was. Not just for now but for this whole day. Was it Akashi turning up without any warning? Or was it the mention of the birthday? All the silence? Regardless something has clearly shifted.

“I thought…from the beginning I thought you were disappointed. Like I get it, waiting for ages and then for me to turn up but-“

“Don’t say that. I was shocked and eager and didn’t want to overwhelm. You looked nervous enough as you were.”

“I-I’m always like that, with new people anyway.” He followed that with a mutter, light embarrassment in his voice. Looks like they're both opening up tonight. “And you were a bit of a special case so it was basically a given.” 

Akashi chuckled and settled back into Furihata. “Well, I certainly am a special case.”

They both giggled although nothing funny was said, Furihata’s mark hot but pleasantly so. Apart from their very first meeting he doesn’t recall it ever reacting so right now he was savouring the sensation.

Eventually they went to bed, Furihata showing the guest bedroom and bathroom, providing him with a few stuff to clean up. Akashi had been at his before but never past the living room. Right before midnight Furihata wishes him another ‘happy birthday’ and goes to his room.

The increased distance eventually makes the mark downgrade its heat to a low lukewarm, but the indication that Akashi is nearby is soothing and he falls asleep soundly, chest light.

In the morning Furihata woke up to a text saying Akashi had to leave early for the meeting, but another line read ‘_Perhaps later we could take a walk around the centre_?’.

He smiled and hugged the phone to himself as he went to make breakfast, firing back a quick ‘_Sure’_.

The plates and cups from the previous night had been cleared away and Furihata didn’t have much to do other than anticipate the rest. Both later in the day and the future. Akashi was right, they _had_ made a lot of progress, and it brought him a newfound hope.

\-------

After their stroll around town they decided to go for hot drinks. As he was taking off his coat off (Akashi helping and moving a chair out for him) Furihata realised it’s the same café that made him so sour and pessimistic in the first place.

There are still a lot of couples, a lot of proudly exposed marks and PDA, but this time Furihata doesn’t envy them. He's realised he and Akashi have a quiet, steady sort of compatibility and as he listens to Akashi’s semi-whining about how _‘uninteresting and completely unnecessary, waste of my time_’ the meeting had been, he thinks it’s the best kind.

They walked out holding hands and Furihata revelled in the increasingly familiar warmth on his collarbone, internally protecting him from the wintery weather. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Aaaanndd we've reached it! The end! 
> 
> Apologies, I didn't want to leave such a gap for the last chapter but hey ho. It's weird seeing that 10/10. I actually wrote a lot of little drabbles but couldn't finish them, and this is the one that I could finally see an ending for, so I hope you liked <3
> 
> Thank you so much for all the kudos and each of the comments, and another big big big BIG thank you for reading to begin with, I'm happy I got to share all the stuff that bounces around my brain ( ˘ ³˘) ♥


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